System and method for prevention of water condensation on hard surfaces

ABSTRACT

A reflecting or transparent member such as a shower mirror having a hard surface is striated with a striating member sufficiently so that the surface is finely striated. The striating member has an abrasive surface that has a concentration of abrasives in the range of 100 to 500 grit. After the surface is striated, water is applied to the surface and the water coheres to the striations forming a thin lamina or sheet of water. The thin lamina prevents the condensation of water vapor on the surface when the temperature of the ambient air adjacent the surface falls below the dew-point.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to a system and method for preventingwater vapor from condensing on a hard surface when the temperatureadjacent the surface is below the dew-point.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Water vapor condenses on hard surfaces such as glass, plastic,and metal when the temperature of the air adjacent the surface fallsbelow the dew-point. This phenomenon is seen to occur quite commonly onobjects such as windows, bathroom mirrors, shower mirrors, eyeglasslens', scuba diving goggles, and automobile windshields. There arenumerous other such objects in everyday occurrences where thisphenomenon is observed; however, the aforementioned are most commonlyexperienced and representative of surfaces that require immediateremoval of the condensation in order for the object to have utility.

[0003] In the prior art, chemical compounds had been developed to coathard reflecting surfaces such as mirrors to limit and prevent watervapor from condensing on the surface and hence preclude a foggingcondition on the surface. In some instances the compounds were sprayedon the surface as the fog condition was occurring and usually adverselyaffected the image reflected from the surface. Wiping a surface aftercondensation occurs or splashing the surface with water will temporarilyprevent continued fogging; however, splashed water tends to bead or formdroplets on the surface and consequently distorts or adversely affectsany reflected image or the ability to see through the surface if it istransparent. Heating devices were also used in the prior art to heat thesurface and thus maintain the temperature adjacent the surface above thedew-point to prevent condensation of the water vapor ambient thesurface. Such devices are generally impractical and expensive.

[0004] The present invention is directed toward striating a hard surfacemember with very fine striations barely visible to the eye. Thestriations may be machined into the surface, integrally molded, or wipedunto the surface with abrasives. It has been found that when water isapplied to such a surface, the water coheres to the striations and formsa thin lamina or sheet of water over the surface that prevents thecondensation of water on the surface when the temperature adjacent thesurface is below the dew-point. By using inexpensive commerciallyavailable abrasive hand pads or sandpaper, one can easily andinexpensively striate a hard surface member having a reflecting surfacesuch as a shower mirror or bathroom mirror, apply water to the surfaceand thus prevent the condensation of water vapor or fogging on thesurface of the mirror.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] There is provided therefore a system and method for preventingthe condensation of water vapor on a hard surface such as glass,plastic, or metal when the temperature adjacent the surface is below thedew-point.

[0006] The present invention relates to a reflective or transparentmember having a hard surface that may be striated or grooved. Thestriations are very fine and barely visible. They may be moldedintegrally with the surface, machined into the surface, or formed on thesurface through the use of abrasives. Preferably the striations shouldbe in the range of 180 to 500 per inch which is the equivalent of a gritsize of 180-500 as measured by the ANSI/CAMI standard. In the case ofabrasives, the abrasive granules may be coated to a cloth, paper, orfiber backing, or film having a backing such as polyester film or acombination thereof. The striations may also be made by abrasive handpads preferably with a nylon filament surface having a grit equivalentin the range of 150 to 500.

[0007] In one embodiment, the hard surface member is made of glass andhas a hard reflecting surface. Other embodiments include a member thatis transparent. The preferred hard reflecting surface of this inventionis a shower or bathroom mirror. Other embodiments of such a mirrorinclude mirrors made of plastic or metal or a combination thereof. Inyet another embodiment, the reflecting surface may be transparent glassor plastic. When the striations are imbedded into the hard surface withan abrasive, the preferred striating member is a hand pad having a nylonfilament surface with an equivalent grit size in the range of 150 to500. The striating member may also consist of abrasives coated to clothor paper such as sandpaper having a grit size in the range of 100 to500. The abrasives may be aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, garnet,ceramic, or other abrasives of sufficient hardness to striate the hardreflecting or transparent surface member.

[0008] In the method of this invention, the reflecting surface may bestriated when the surface is either wet or dry by wiping the surfacewith an abrasive or machining the surface with abrasives having a gritrange preferably in the range of 150-500 grit. With a grit size lessthan 150, the striations on the surface may be visible; however, waterapplied to a striated surface of 100 grit will form a lamina or sheet onthe surface that prevents water vapor from condensing on the surfacewhen the temperature adjacent the surface is below the dew-point. Thelamina is formed by applying water to the striated surface where thewater coheres to the striations. When the lamina or thin water sheetforms, the surface water does not drain or bead and water vapor will notcondense it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009]FIG. 1 illustrates a hard reflective surface member being striatedby an abrasive hand pad.

[0010]FIG. 2 is a magnified view of the surface enclosed within the line2-2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] The present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. As can be seen inFIG. 1, a hard surface member 1 is striated or grooved by an abrasivemember 2 by rubbing or wiping the abrasive member across the surface 3of the hard surface member 1. The surface 3 illustrated in FIG. 1 is areflecting surface or mirror. The striations or grooves 4 are shownmagnified in FIG. 2 which is a magnified view of the surface areaenclosed by the line 2-2. Although the striations appear to be parallelin FIG. 2, they may extend across the reflecting surface in manydirections and may intersect innumerable times. The direction of rubbingor wiping the abrasive member as shown by the line A-A in FIG. 1 may bevertical, horizontal, or a combination of directions. FIG. 2 is forillustrative purposes to show that the surface 3 is striated with veryfine grooves. When water is applied to a finely striated surface, it hasbeen found that the water coheres to the striations and forms a thinlamina or sheet on the surface. The lamina does not drain or bead thesurface and the surface does not fog when the temperature adjacent thesurface falls below the dew-point. The dew-point is the temperaturebelow which water vapor in the ambient air condenses.

[0012] In the preferred embodiment of this invention, hard surfacemember 1 is a glass mirror and abrasive member 2 is a hand pad having anabrasive surface composed of nylon filaments. The hard surface member 1may be made of a metal or plastic; and the abrasives of the abrasivemember 2 are of a hardness which is greater than the hardness of surface3. Sandpaper having a grit size in the range of 100-500 grit (ANSI/CAMI)will produce striations on surface 3 that are very fine and barelyvisible. Other abrasives may also be used that are coated to cloth suchas aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, garnet, ceramic or other abrasivesof sufficient hardness to striate surface 3.

[0013] In the method of this invention, a hard surface member 1 whichmay be transparent, is striated with an abrasivematerial having a gritsize in the range of 100-500 grit. The striations could also be machinedinto surface 3 or integrally molded with hard surface member 1. Afterbeing striated, the the surface is wetted with water which forms a thinlamina or sheet of water by cohering to the striations. Thus, when thetemperature of the air adjacent the striated surface drops below thedew-point, water vapor will not condense on the lamina and fog thesurface.

[0014] While I have shown and described embodiments of a system andmethod for preventing water vapor to condense and fog a surface, it isto be understood that the system and method are subject to manymodifications without departing from the scope and spirit of the claimsas recited herein.

I claim:
 1. An anti-fogging system for preventing condensation of watervapor on a reflecting surface that fogs the reflecting surface when thetemperature adjacent the reflecting surface is below the dew pointcomprising: (a) a mirror having a reflecting surface of sufficienthardness to permit said reflecting surface to be striated such that uponwetting said reflecting surface with water said water will cohere tosaid striations and form a thin lamina of water on said reflectingsurface; and (b) a striating member having surface abrasives of greaterhardness than said reflecting surface such that upon rubbing saidstriating member upon said reflecting surface said reflecting surfacewill be striated whereby upon wetting said reflecting surface with watersaid water will cohere to said striations and form a thin lamina ofwater on said reflecting surface thereby preventing water vapor tocondense on said reflecting surface when the temperature adjacent saidreflecting surface is below the dew-point.
 2. The system recited inclaim 1 where said reflecting surface is a rigid glass surface.
 3. Thesystem recited in claim 2 where said surface abrasives of said striatingmember are in the range of 100 to 500 grit.
 4. The system recited inclaim 3 where said surface abrasives may be selected from the abrasiveminerals group consisting of aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, ceramicand garnet.
 5. The system recited in claim 3 where said surfaceabrasives are nylon filaments.
 6. The system recited in claim 1 wheresaid reflecting surface is a metal surface.
 7. The system recited inclaim 6 where said surface abrasives of said striating member are in therange of 100 to 500 grit.
 8. The system recited in claim 7 where saidsurface abrasives are nylon filaments.
 9. The system recited in claim 1where said reflecting surface is a plastic surface.
 10. The systemrecited in claim 9 where said surface abrasives of said striating memberare in the range of 100 to 500 grit.
 11. The system recited in claim 10where said surface abrasives may be selected from the abrasive mineralsgroup consisting of aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, ceramic and garnet.12. A method for preventing condensation of water vapor on a reflectingsurface of a mirror that will fog the reflecting surface of the mirrorwhen the temperature of the reflecting surface is below the dew-pointcomprising the steps of striating said reflecting surface and wettingsaid reflecting surface with water whereby said water will cohere tosaid striations so as to form a thin lamina of water on said reflectingsurface thereby preventing water vapor to condense on said reflectingsurface when the temperature of said reflecting surface is below thedew-point.
 13. The method recited in claim 12 wherein said striatingstep comprises wiping said surface with a striating member.
 14. Themethod recited in claim 13 wherein said striating member is comprised ofnylon filaments.
 15. An anti-fogging member having a hard surfacecontaining a multiplicity of fine striations so disposed and arranged insaid hard surface to permit water to cohere to said striations and forma thin lamina of water thereon thereby preventing water vapor fromcondensing thereon when the temperature adjacent said lamina is belowthe dew-point.
 16. The anti-fogging member recited in claim 15 whereinsaid hard surface is a glass surface.
 17. The anti-fogging memberrecited in claim 16 wherein said fine striations have a concentration inthe range of 100-500 grit.
 18. The anti-fogging member recited in claim15 wherein said hard surface is a plastic surface.
 19. The anti-foggingmember recited in claim 18 wherein said fine striations have aconcentration in the range of 100-500 grit.
 20. The anti-fogging memberrecited in claim 15 wherein said hard surface is a metal surface.